Google sued by publishers over alleged pirate textbook promotion
This raises serious concerns for advertisers about brand safety, fair competition and the integrity of ad placements.
Topic: United States district court
This day in search marketing history: January 8
A shift from keyword research to intent research, plus: search engines taking data from SEOs, PPC spending/budget cuts, and more.
Alexa users claim Amazon is using voice recordings to target ads
Alexa users have been speculating for many years that Amazon has been using their private conversation data for ad targeting.
Verdict is in for CEO involved in forging court order over reputation attack
This case highlights the lack of protection and justice available for online defamation victims from Google and other tech companies.
US court orders Google not to comply with Canadian court’s order delisting search results
The US court agreed with Google that implementation of the Canadian court's ruling would violate US laws, including the right to free speech.
SearchCap: 2017 SEO, Google holidays & our top stories
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Improve your paid search & social through relationship marketingDec 23, 2016 by Jeff Baum Contributor Jeff Baum explains how you can nurture your prospect through the entire buying journey using search […]
Google Loses Appeal By AdWords Advertisers In Suit Over Ads On Error Pages
Ruling overturns lower court denial of class-action status for advertisers, paving the way for plaintiffs to be able to sue as a group. Higher court also sides with advertisers on methods for calculating restitution.
Another Court Affirms Google’s First Amendment Control Of Search Results
Europe and the U.S. continue to drift further apart on Google. Even as European parliamentarians and regulators seek ways to restrain Google’s discretion over search results, U.S. courts continue to affirm Google’s right to do whatever it wants with search results — paid and organic. A California state court in San Francisco recently granted Google’s […]
SearchCap: Matt Cutts On Links, Spiderman Drops Bing & DuckDuckGo’s New Design
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: DuckDuckGo Releases New Beta Site With Redesigned Look & Added Features DuckDuckGo. the search engine known for protecting the privacy of its users, announced a new “reimagined and redesigned” beta site […]
Secret Contracts Keep Google In Control Of Mobile Search Argues Lawsuit
A would be class action lawsuit was filed last week against Google in Federal Court in California. The action seeks to resurrect some of the themes and arguments raised in the now settled FTC antitrust case against the company. While repeating familiar abuse of market power allegations against Google, the new civil case is focused […]
US Court Says Baidu Has Free Speech Right To Censor Search
Late last week, Chinese search engine Baidu succeeded in gaining dismissal of a lawsuit by pro-democracy activists based in New York (Zhang et al. v. Baidu.com, Inc). Plaintiffs had sued in the US and argued that Baidu improperly blocked them from seeing content on the search engine. Specifically, according to Reuters, the plaintiffs said that people in the US couldn’t […]
Google, Android Makers Sued By Apple “Rockstar” Consortium Over Search, AdWords
Roughly two years ago Google and a consortium of companies competitively bid for the vast patent portfolio of bankrupt Canadian Company Nortel Networks. Google initiated the bidding with $900 million but ultimately was outbid by the Rockstar consortium, consisting of Microsoft, Apple, Blackberry, Ericsson and Sony. Google’s final bid was $4.4 billion. Rockstar won the patents for […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 14, 2013
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Google Authority Boost: Google’s Algorithm To Determine Which Site Is A Subject Authority Yesterday, we covered and summarized the ten future Google SEO changes coming to Google’s search results by the […]
Taiwanese Research Firm Claims Patent Law Suit Against Google Search Products
Institute for Information, located in Taipei, Taiwan, has brought a patent lawsuit against Google in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. According to the case, the research institution claims Google Search, Google+ Local and Google Places infringes on the Institute for Information’s patented information retrieval system. The patent in question was […]
DecorMyEyes Owner Vitaly Borker Pleads Guilty, Could Face 6+ Years In Jail
Vitaly Borker, the New York business owner who became notorious last year when he claimed that outrageous behavior toward customers was helping his website rank higher in Google, faces up to six-and-a-half years in jail after pleading guilty Thursday to several counts against him. According to the New York Times, Borker — owner of DecorMyEyes.com […]
Priceline.com Founder Sues Google Over Offers Service
Although Google Offers hasn’t formally launched yet, the service is already facing its first lawsuit. Walker Digital, a private R&D lab that created and launched Priceline.com in the late 1990s, is suing Google for allegedly violating four of the company’s patents. The lawsuit, which asks the court for a jury trial, seeks unspecified damages and […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 18, 2011
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Goes Beyond Answers, Starts Guessing Release Dates Google can answer a lot of searches without needing to send you to another web site. If you’re looking for weather, sports scores […]
SEO Held Liable, Fined In Counterfeiting Case
A website builder and SEO firm has been held liable in federal court in a case in which it was accused of enabling the sale of counterfeit goods. Bright Builders faces a $770,000 fine for damages in the judgment, handed down in U.S. District Court in South Carolina last week, while its client was only […]
Little-Known Isohunt Case Attracts Google’s Interest
Why does search giant Google care about Isohunt, a search engine that few have ever heard of? That’s the question raised in a Paid Content report. Turns out Google filed a friend-of-the-court brief in a civil case against Isohunt Web Technologies, a BitTorrent site, because it’s concerned the court will set a precedent it doesn’t […]
Google Ordered To Fork Over A Dollar For Street View Trespassing (Yes, $1)
A court case that began in 2008 when a Google Street View vehicle took photos on a private road in Pennsylvania is over. The judgment? Google owes the plaintiffs a dollar. Aaron and Christine Boring originally sued Google with a variety of claims, including invasion of privacy, trespassing, punitive damages, and more after a Street […]
A Closer Look At The Google Buzz Privacy Settlement
On December 20th, a federal judge in the Bay Area will be asked to approve an $8.5 million settlement between Google and several Gmail users who sued earlier this year over the way Google Buzz was launched in February. If it’s approved, the case will become a class action, Gmail users in the U.S. will […]
StreetSpace Sues Google, Nokia, Apple, Mobile Ad Networks For Infringement Of Location-Based Ads Patent
StreetSpace is a company you probably haven’t heard of, but it’s not a so-called “patent troll” seeking to cash in on unimplemented intellectual property. Rather StreetSpace is a company that has been around since 1999 and installs internet kioks in public spaces, such as airports, retail locations and restaurants. Here’s a description of its main […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, June 22, 2010
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google, Twitter Argue Against Throttling Speed Of News Google and Twitter have teamed up to support a web site that’s facing legal trouble for reporting news too quickly. Reuters reports that […]
Google, Twitter Argue Against Throttling Speed Of News
Google and Twitter have teamed up to support a web site that’s facing legal trouble for reporting news too quickly. Reuters reports that Google and Twitter filed a brief Monday in an appeals court case involving theflyonthewall.com, a web site that reports financial industry and stock market news. A U.S. District Court ruled earlier this […]
Woman Follows Google Maps “Walking” Directions, Gets Hit, Sues
Is Google responsible for giving out bad directions through its Google Maps service? We’re about to find out. After Googling walking directions for a trip in Park City, Utah, Lauren Rosenberg claims she was led onto a busy highway, where she was struck by a vehicle. She’s now suing Google for damages. The case, Rosenberg […]
Google Lawsuit: Our Links Don’t Violate Copyright
Google is suing a small record company that previously sued Google over its links to copyrighted works hosted on Rapdishare. Google Inc. v. Blues Destiny Records, LLC was filed April 28 in a California district court. It’s a potentially important issue at hand: As Billboard explains, Google is asking the court to declare that the […]
Photographers Group To Sue Google Over Book Deal
While Google waits for news about its proposed book search settlement with authors and publishers, it’s about to face a new legal challenge. The Financial Times reports that the American Society of Media Photographers and related trade groups are expected to file a new, class action lawsuit over the images that appear in the books […]
US Appeals Court Allows Google Street View Trespass Lawsuit To Continue
A couple called “Boring” (yes, that’s their surname) sued Google in early 2008 for taking pictures of its suburban Pennsylvania home. The claim was their house was on a clearly marked private road (“Private Road, No Trespassing”) and Google’s Street View mobile trespassed by entering and taking the images of their home. There was also […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 25, 2009
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google “Jump To” Links Within Search Snippets The Google Blog announced two new features within the Google search results we have spotted earlier. The first are the anchor based links and […]
Google Book Search Settlement: What Will Happen Now?
Judge Denny Chin of the US District Court, who is presiding over the Google Book Search Settlement and was prepared to approve it until legions of opponents came forward, summarizes the dilemma facing all interested parties in his recent order (via the NY Times), taking the impending October 7 final settlement hearing off the calendar: […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, June 16, 2009
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Report: How The Internet Has Changed Music Consumption Music file sharing services have always been a mutant species of search, offering different tools and methods for finding and listening to tunes. […]
Microsoft Taking Click Fraud Battle To Court
The New York Times reports that Microsoft is taking the click fraud battle to court. “Microsoft filed the civil complaint on Monday in United States District Court in Seattle against Eric Lam, Gordon Lam and Melanie Suen, of Vancouver, British Columbia, along with several corporation names they were believed to have used, and several unnamed […]
Google Loses Copyright Cases Over Thumbnail Images In Germany
Bloomberg reports that Google has lost two related copyright cases in German courts. Both involved display of thumbnails in image search results. Google can appeal the rulings.
Google Sued For Quality Of Ads On AdSense for Domains
Google Sued For Selling Ads On Parked Domains from InformationWeek reports Google was slapped with a class action lawsuit over the AdSense for Domains product. In short, advertisers are upset with the quality of traffic driven through that program and feel that their money was taken from them without any return. The suit was filed […]
US Court Orders Advertiser To Use Negative Keywords In Trademark Case
Eric Goldman reports that a US District Judge in Florida ordered an advertiser using a trademark term to use the negative keyword option, to ensure that they would no longer bid on that term in the future. The judge ordered the defendant to stop using the word “ORION” in their search ad campaigns by adding […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 11, 2008
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land:
Judge Denies Punitive Damages In Viacom Vs. YouTube Case
Viacom Denied Punitive Damages In YouTube Suit from the Silicon Valley Insider reports a US District Court has denied Viacom’s request for punitive damages against Google over the YouTube copyright claims. Judge Louis Stanton said “common-law punitive damages cannot be recovered under the Copyright Act,” and denied Viacom’s action against Google and YouTube. This does […]
Google Helps In Child Porn Bust In United States
Former Batesburg-Leesville High teacher indicted in internet bust from WISTV.com reports a high-school teacher was indicted for distributing and soliciting child pornography on Google-owned Hello.com. Hello.com is a site that allows users to chat in real-time while exchanging photos. Timothy Lynn Brumit, a 47-year old high school teacher in Batesburg-Leesville, allegedly used Hello.com to send […]
Google Wins Upside Down Social Security Number Privacy Lawsuit
Eric Goldman reports Google has won the Jayne v. Google Founders lawsuit (PDF). The suit was filed by Dylan Stephen Jayne against Google for $5 billion. Jayne claimed when you turn his social security number upside down, it spelled Google. In any event, a United States court of appeals for the third circuit dismissed Jayne’s […]
Google Asks Judge To Deny Boarding To American Airlines Lawsuit
Google seeks dismissal of American Airlines suit from Dallas Business Journal reports that Google has filed a motion to dismiss the American Airlines vs. Google trademark case. In that case, American Airlines sued Google for allowing advertisers to bid on their trademark names. Gary Price located the motion to dismiss document (PDF format). Google argues […]